Majority of Catalans want independence poll held

The majority of Catalans want the right to decide on independence in a referendum and believe Spanish prime minister Mariano Rajoy should authorise such a vote, a poll showed yesterday.

Last week separatist parties in Spain’s Catalonia region set Nov 9, 2014, as the date for a proposed independence referendum, a vote the government opposes as unconstitutional.

But 74% of Catalans believe they should be given a say over their relationship with Spain, showed a GESOP poll, based on interviews with 800 people and published in Catalan newspaper El Periodico.

The 2014 referendum would ask two questions: “Do you want Catalonia to be a state?” and “Do you want that state to be independent?”

A Sigma Dos poll published in right-leaning El Mundo yesterday showed 43% of Catalans would vote yes to Catalonia becoming a state and 82% of those want independence.